Birding Western Mass: Hawkwatch 2d Peak Weekend
Thoughts on Birding from the Quabbin to the Berkshires
Short edition with ideas on where to watch for hawks this weekend.
Overflight
This is the end of the peak broad-winged migration season. If you go to look for any hawks, you don’t know what you might see — you might see other birds of prey moving, such as ospreys or eagles or kestrels. I hope you do.
Birdscape
For this special edition, I pared away everything but specifics. I’m in a rush to get the letter out, so I regret that the below are not in much of an order. I relied on a simple eBird analysis and this is neither all the sites worth being at (the best place to bird is where you are) nor a set of guaranteed-perfect sites for this year.
Unfortunately, hawks fly seven days, whereas most people have special days they’re free. It’s a thing.
The following locations…
are eBird hotspots. None of these spots is secret or private.
delivered 30+ broad-winged hawks at least one time in the last four years.
If you’d rather see them in a Google Map, here is a hawkwatch folder I made of these locations.
Berkshire County
Greylock Glen - Educational hawk watches get scheduled here so there’s lots of sightings captured in eBird.
Lime Kiln Farm Wildlife Sanctuary, Sheffield - This one surprised me. I’ve been there and I wouldn’t have expected it to be great — the sightings are spare, so don’t overinvest. But it’s a great place to walk, so why not?
Mount Everett State Reservation - Great sightings. I need to try this place.
Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary
Old Baldy Wildlife Sanctuary (Mass Audubon)
Franklin County
Jumptown Spectator Parking - Clearly a good north view across the airport and easy to park and watch without needing to hike.
Turners Falls--Unity Park - Similarly a good place to park and look, but plenty of trees here and there. I imagine some hawks pick up the river here as a way to head south, but I have no evidence for that speculation.
Hampden County
Blueberry Hill Hawk Watch - Great view to the north, virtually unobstructed, with places to sit. The parking’s a little rugged and there’s a short walk.
Mount Tom State Reservation--Goat Peak Tower (I park at the Mount Tom Upper Pavilion/Playground) I love this place. Great 340-degree view, nothing overhead, a perch at the very top of the oak canopy. But getting to it requires a minimum .8-mile walk.
Shatterack Mountain (not an eBird site) — The dirt road I park on is sketchy and I wouldn’t drive it in your 1972 El Dorado but good view and good company.
Hampshire County
Honey Pot, Hadley - I have not tried hawk watching here but the numbers look OK.
Quabbin Park - I have not tried it here but there are a number of good north-facing vantage points, including some that the Quabbin itself makes long reaches of sky.
Skinner State Park - I had good hawks here in 2023 at a picnic. You can drive up.
Bird Books and Whistles
Watch this brief, no-talking/text documentary about Canada geese. It will break your heart. It’s a fine document. If you’re my age (pushing 60), it might remind you of how precious, rare and plaintive the sound of geese overhead was when we were kids and there weren’t many.
I thoroughly enjoy having found your Substack and writing through the FB group. Such great ideas especially for someone coming from CT. Thank you!